Political commentary from the LA Times

President Obama to join Twitter's Jack Dorsey in White House town hall

June 30, 2011 | 6:12
pm

President Obama, no stranger to social networks and public meetings, will participate in a melding of the two July 6, when he will have an online town hall at the White House moderated by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey.

"Today, the White House announced through its official Twitter account, @whitehouse, that it will host its first ever Twitter town hall on Wednesday, July 6, at 2 p.m. ET in the East Room of the White House. Twitter co-founder and Executive Chairman Jack Dorsey will moderate a conversation between President Obama and Americans across the country about the economy and jobs. Starting today, Twitter users can submit questions using the hashtag #AskObama. More information from Twitter can be found at the event’s homepage: http://askobama.twitter.com," the White House said in a statement.

Obama, who has almost 9 million followers to his @BarackObama Twitter feed, joined billionaire Mark Zuckerberg in April for a Facebook town hall. Obama used that platform to explain some of his policies and didn't hesitate to take shots at Republicans.

"The Republican budget put forward is fairly radical, but I would not call it courageous," Obama said in April. "You can call that bold; I would call it shortsighted."

Photo: President Obama uses his BlackBerry on June 3, 2010, as he walks at Sidwell Friends school in Bethesda, Md. Call him the Digital Candidate: He has asked supporters to use Facebook to declare "I'm in" for his reelection campaign and has begun using Twitter to communicate with his nearly 9 million followers. Credit: AP Photo/Charles Dharapak